Quick close/quick release mechanical fasteners are known. They may be repeatedly closed and opened and are frequently referred to as being reclosable. One such fastener, known as a hook and loop fastener, is available from Velcro U.S.A., Inc., Manchester, N.H. Another such fastener, known as a mushroom-shaped fastener, is sold as the Dual Lock.RTM. Reclosable Fastener by the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn. Although both of these fasteners are widely used and have been shown to be extremely useful, they have certain undesirable characteristics. For example, the hook or mushroom portions of the fasteners tend to snag fabric. Moreover, both the hook and loop portions of the fasteners tend to collect lint and dust. Also, these types of fasteners do not exhibit a thin profile, which may detract from an aesthetic appearance. Another feature of the hook and loop fastener is that it makes noise when it is opened. This makes it undesirable in any application where noise is a concern, such as for military use.
Other known fastening systems, such as double sided tape also have various limitations. These limitations include non-recyclability, inability to obtain perfect alignment of opposing fastening components, extensive process steps required to manufacture compositions comprising the fasteners, difficulty of attaching or mounting the fasteners to certain substrates, incompatibility with high speed application equipment, undesired transfer of the adhesive to a contact surface, and incompatibility with manual attachment of the adhesive product to an article.